On January 1, 1994, the day NAFTA went into effect, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) took over five towns and more than 500 ranches in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico. Under the leadership of the mysterious and charismatic Subcomandante Marcos, the Indigenous guerilla forces seized the land in protest of centuries of oppression by landowners and the Mexican government. Director Nettie Wild and her Canadian/Mexican crew captured eight months in the life of the revolution in A Place Called Chiapas. Wild’s revealing depiction of what The New York Times called “the world’s first postmodern revolution” reflects on the tensions of the uprising and was released to international acclaim.

On the 25th Anniversary of the rebellion, 370 kilograms of the original 16mm reels were returned to Mexico, where the film was screened in Spanish for the first time thanks to a collaboration between the filmmakers, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’s film archives (Filmoteca UNAM), and the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. DOXA is proud to present A Place Called Chiapas followed by a post-screening conversation with director Nettie Wild, producer Betsy Carson, copyright lawyer Martha Rans, and the director of the Filmoteca UNAM, Hugo Villa Smythe, who will discuss the repatriation of the footage, the idea of copyright, and who owns the stories we tell. -MS

This screening is part of the Justice Forum Series and will include a post-film discussion.



Runtime: 93 mins
Director: Nettie Wild
Country: Canada
Year: 1998